Diner’s failure to open makes Surfside Beach ‘look like joke.’ Owner blames town
Eighteen months since the Surfside Beach Fishing Pier reopened, a restaurant located on the pier has yet to welcome customers in, leaving the town council bristling over the progress.
However, the restaurant owner blames the town for the lengthy timeline.
Multiple council members stated they find the terms of the contract with the Surf Diner to be unfavorable for the town. Their main concerns are the loss of revenue and not being sure when the restaurant would open.
During its Tuesday meeting, the Surfside Beach Council voted to hire an attorney to investigate its contract with the Surf Diner. Mayor Robert Krouse told The Sun News that the council seeks to better understand the contract and does not plan to take immediate action. Krouse noted that nearly all of the council members who approved the contract are no longer elected officials in the town.
“I don’t know what they’re doing. It’s an iron-clad lease,” owner Bill Howard said Wednesday.
Council Member Skip Walls said during the meeting that he wants to know if it’s possible for the town to “change the partnership and move it on to somebody else.”
The pier, which reopened in March 2024, has space for four businesses, with two already open. Drippy’s Ice Cream and Perry’s Bait and Tackle opened in the spring of 2024.
The Whistling Duck is still under construction but has been paying rent since October 2024, according to a Surfside Beach document.
The main issue council member Harry Kohlman has is the fact that Surf Diner does not have to pay rent for the space until it receives its certificate of occupancy.
“They don’t have to pay one dime until they’re ready to open. It’s been a year and a half, folks,” Kohlman said during the meeting. “Do we wait five years?”
Howard said it has taken this long to open the restaurant because he had to complete substantial construction with little space. The town did not give him designated parking spots or areas to load and unload. Howard and his contractors often had to park several blocks away.
“If (the subcontractors) were to grab a parking space, then run, go pick something up and come back, there’s no space. You know, the pier parking lot was 100% full for four months,” Howard said. “We’ve had no subcontractors willing to work in Surfside at the pier.”
Howard said he spent several months in 2024 redoing the floors, meaning he was unable to work on other parts, like the kitchen or the walls. The restaurant is 90% finished, but given the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting, he is unsure when the restaurant will open.
It was estimated at the council meeting that a contractual lawyer would cost about $2,000 to $5,000 to review the contract and present their findings.
Aside from the loss of revenue from Surf Diner, including the lease amount and what the city could generate from hospitality taxes, Council Member Shawn Fallon said during the Tuesday meeting that she thinks the empty space looks embarrassing for Surfside Beach.
“Right now, the town looks like a joke. I can’t tell you how many times people have said to me, ‘You know, the town is just going to let this guy go on and on and on,’” Fallon said.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
